French Labour Law

URSSAF Audits On-Site, Documentary or Digital: Key Differences, Right to Refuse and Pitfalls

DAIRIA Law · 2026-09-01 · 3 min

URSSAF Audits On-Site, Documentary or Digital: Key Differences, Right to Refuse and Pitfalls

Not all URSSAF audits are alike: the method chosen by the inspector determines your rights — and in particular your right to refuse. Knowing the difference between an on-site audit, a documentary audit and a digital audit means avoiding a procedure you could have redirected.

This article is part of the series URSSAF Audits: The Employer’s Guide. Previous step: the notice of audit.

The audit of the contribution base: the common core

Whether conducted on-site or on the documents, the audit aims to verify the accuracy of the contribution bases (assiettes) and the rates declared (Articles L.243-7 and R.243-59 et seq. of the French Social Security Code). Any reassessment must be substantiated in fact and in law: this is a requirement whose failure is sanctioned.

On-site audit vs documentary audit

  • On-site (sur place): the inspector visits your premises. You control the practical organisation (a dedicated room, a single point of contact).
  • Documentary (sur pièces): everything hinges on the documents you provide. The temptation to “give too much” is strong; yet each document communicated may fuel a ground for reassessment.

In both cases, the contributor may be assisted by an advisor at any time (Article R.243-59-1 of the French Social Security Code).

The digital documentary audit (contrôle sur pièces dématérialisé, Article R.243-59-3 of the French Social Security Code) relies on the transmission of files (DSN social returns, payroll files). It requires your consent.

DAIRIA tip: systematically exercise your right to refuse within 15 days, and request precise details of what is expected. This refusal does not constitute an obstruction of the audit and exposes you to no surcharge — it simply gives you back control over the timetable and scope.

If you accept the digital audit, request the precise list of the files consulted and the processing carried out (Article R.243-59-4 of the French Social Security Code). You can only effectively challenge what you are aware of.

Interviews: fertile ground for nullities

The inspector may interview remunerated persons (Article R.243-59-3 of the French Social Security Code; Article L.8271-6-1 of the French Labour Code in matters of undeclared work). The pitfalls of interviews are numerous: interviews without consent, without prior information, or outside the cases provided for by law. An irregular interview may result in the nullity of the findings that stem from it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a digital audit be refused? Yes, within 15 days; this is not an obstruction of the audit.

Can interviews be annulled? Yes, if the required formalities (consent, prior information) are not respected.

On-site or documentary, what is the difference? The location and the practical control; the adversarial process (contradictoire) remains identical.

Written and supervised by Guillemette Watine, attorney, former URSSAF litigation inspector, head of the URSSAF practice at DAIRIA Avocats.

Next step → How URSSAF Calculates the Reassessment: Flat-Rate Taxation, Sampling and Extrapolation

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